About Last Night

'Beer in Hell' author is controversial -- to the Max

September 28, 2009|By Luis Arroyave

Tucker Max hates living in Los Angeles and is considering moving back to Chicago -- the city he believes has the best bar scene -- but the "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" blogger/author/filmmaker is tied to Hollywood at the moment.

The movie, based on Max's best-selling book of the same title, came out Friday. This means there is still a press tour to finish and appearances to make. And because the University of Chicago graduate produced the bachelor party movie and co-wrote it with friend Nils Parker, there are still business decisions to be made.

"Once I'm done with the movie, I'll move to Chicago, Austin or San Francisco," said Max while sitting in his tour bus outside Naperville's ShowPlace 16 theater Saturday.

Max opens up his sex life for all to see (and laugh about) on tuckermax.com and in the book and movie. But the 33-year-old author, a self-proclaimed jerk, hasn't become a Hollywood stereotype just yet. He wore a plain black fleece and gray T-shirt to his appearance at Lincoln Park bar Faith & Whiskey Friday and to Naperville on Saturday. Max said he can't stand clubs or the Affliction-shirt-wearing guys who inhabit them.

"These are the guys I would rather not have as fans," said Max, a Duke Law School graduate. "They're the ones who think my writing is only about drinking and macking on chicks. They're the ones that think sexual assault is funny."

Pot calling the kettle black? It depends on whom you ask. Women's rights groups have accused Max of promoting misogyny in his writing. Protesters frequently interrupted Max during a speaking engagement at Ohio State University in May.

What crossed Max's mind when he first encountered the protest?

"I'm a star now," Max responded. "Nobody comes out and protests people who are anonymous and unimportant."

As for accusations that he doesn't respect women, Max claimed half of his fans are women.

He even said he would like to settle down eventually.

"It would suck to be single my whole life," he said. "If you sit on a pile of gold but have nobody that loves you, you're Scrooge McDuck."

Crossing over: Juan Luis Morera and Llandel Veguilla don't speak English, but that hasn't kept the Puerto Rican pop stars better known as Wisin y Yandel from working with some of the biggest names in the United States.

When they worked on the video for the song "Mujeres in the Club," which features 50 Cent, the Latin music giants had help communicating with the rapper. "We had our manager next to us translating," said Morera (Wisin) before performing at the Allstate Arena Thursday. "Fifty talked to us like he's known us for years."

Next up is a song with singer T-Pain, to be featured on an album Wisin y Yandel hope to release in November. "There's this great chemistry," said Veguilla (Yandel). "It's going to be the opposite of what people are expecting."